Saturday, September 22, 2012

What's the Point of a Comic Shop?

I took my daughter to one of my local comic shops today. We have a few, but it’s my favorite for a few of reasons:

• They have a really good selection of comics in general, but they have a big strip reprint section, which is usually a good indicator of the variety a store will have

• They have a pretty impressive kids’ comic section, and it’s right in the front of the store. I consider this hugely important in a comic shop. There’s another shop in my area with a great selection, but the very first thing you pass walking in is a dvd rental area with lots of superhero and anime porn. Hardly a setup that invites any but the most dedicated readers, and a real turn-off to parents. I know I wouldn’t bring MY daughter into that one, though I’ll shop there myself.

• The staff has always been AMAZING. Well-informed, extremely polite and friendly, and eager to recommend new titles based on what you like.

Whenever I take my daughter to this shop, it’s a big event for us. I get her excited about it in the morning, and we talk about it all day. We go over the behavior that’s expected of her (not picking anything up without permission or help from an adult, being quiet, that sort of thing) and the things that we can expect to see. She’s not yet three years old, and going to the comic shop is one of her favorite things that we do together. Generally, we go about once a month.

I was behind on my purchases, so I had (for me) a pretty big stack of floppies – The Creep #0 and #1, the most recent five issues of Lobster Johnson, and Rocketeer #2. I told Penny that she could pick out a toy and a book. She chose a plush of Smiley Bone (she already has a Fone Bone, and really liked Smiley’s vest) and the first volume of the new Fantagraphics Carl Barks collection, which I’d been meaning to pick up myself. One of the store’s staff helped me find a couple of the floppies, and was as helpful and friendly as he always is.

We weren’t yet finished shopping, but Penny asked if we could look at her Donald Duck book. We squatted down in the kids’ section and she rested on my knee, and I started reading her the first few pages of the "Bombie the Zombie" story. She was captivated. She loves being read to, and this was another part of the comic shop experience with her that I always love. That the store itself and reading are so intertwined. That she'll remember the first time she was introduced to a character or a story, and associate it with a shop. What could foster a love of comic shops more than that?

We were interrupted by an employee whom I’d not ever met before. “Excuse me,” she said. “Are you planning on buying that? Because we don’t want people reading the stories if they’re not going to buy them.”

I was taken aback. “Yes, I’m planning on buying it,” I said. She turned and walked off.

I took a moment to reflect on what had just happened. I was clearly upset by the experience, and it must have shown on my face or in my body language, because my daughter hugged me and said “it’s okay, Daddy, don’t be sad.”

We walked around the store and put back our (thus far) seventy-something dollars worth of merchandise, and before leaving I told the employee that I would henceforth be taking my business elsewhere, as I strongly disagreed with the policy, as I considered it antithetic to the whole experience of going to a comic shop.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said, “but we’ve had people read whole issues before and not buy them.”

OF COURSE YOU HAVE. YOU’RE A COMIC BOOK SHOP.

It’s far cheaper to buy trades and graphic novels on Amazon, and to get floppies through companies like DCBS. So why even go to a comic shop, if doing so is not the cheapest option?

One of the reasons that people go to bookstores of any stripe – and I include comic shops in this equation – is that they have the opportunity to peruse the books that they might buy before doing so. I often read the first chapter of a book or GN before picking it up, especially if I’m unfamiliar with it. And, in the past (especially when I was in college) I would read entire books at Borders and not buy them. But you know what? Despite those occurrences, Borders ended up with hundreds of my dollars each year. The kids that would sit and read manga in the aisles? They also BOUGHT manga. Part of the joy of going to a store that sells reading material is the freedom to consume the goods, provided that you are careful to keep the book/comic in the same shape as when you pulled it from the shelf. Take that away, and you take away the ONLY tangible benefit that a shop offers over mail-order service (one COULD argue the social considerations, but the shop counter’s monopoly on comic book discussions is one that, like its former monopoly on the products that it sells, died with the internet).

This shop doesn’t offer me a discount (I’ve never asked), as do others in town. A truly wonderful store in another city gives me a discount of fifty percent (or cost, if cost is more, as is the case with IDW) and mails things my way. I can get books on Amazon for much cheaper than I can find at this store. And yet I still come to this shop. I get floppies there. I get books there. I get toys for my daughter, and I even pick up the odd big-ticket item (an IDW artist edition, for example). Why? Because I like to support my local shop, and this one is the closest one to my house, and therefore the most “local.” I love comic shops, and I want them to succeed, and so whenever possible I make sure that they’re the ones who get my business.

But being made to feel guilty over reading books in the store? That drives away readers. A kid dropped off by his mom while she’s running errands is probably much more likely to catch ire than an adult customer with a stack of books waiting at the counter, so if I get that sort of individual attention then I can be SURE that the kid does. If that kid is made to feel unwelcome, then he or she will be far less likely to grow into a habitual customer. That kid may leave off comics entirely. It’s poor business and extremely poor stewardship of our industry, and so from now on I'm going to be making my purchases at other shops. Luckily, I'm in a city, and have that option. I can still support comic shops while avoiding this one. But unluckily for any comic shop proprietors, not everyone feels a moral requirement to support shops, and EVERYONE now has the option to take their business elsewhere. The internet, the discount comic services, they've killed the monopoly. Make your customers feel unwelcome, and they'll leave. They have that option, and it's not an either/or choice anymore: they can STILL GET THEIR COMICS. They don't need you. You need THEM.

In a perfect world, I'd have chosen to think that this was just the (I assume) new employee acting on her own inclinations, but in truth I’d actually heard of it happening there before: another dad who’d decided to take his business elsewhere for the exact same reason (though in his case, they’d confronted the kid directly). Every employee I'd ever dealt with there had been a dream, so wrote his story off as a fluke, or a mistake, though it seems like it is store policy after all. That’s a shame, because otherwise it’s the best comic shop our city has got. But I guess it doesn’t offer anything that I couldn't get from Amazon.

24 comments:

I used to work in a bookshop and wished customers who read books without ever purchasing a fate worse than death. However, unless they were actually damaging stock I left them alone. People treating a business as a library contribute to possible closure of the shop, but as you say, there will always be those kind of people, but more often than not, the person who reads and browses will eventually become a customer.Without seeing the shop in question I must admit I'm surprised at your post, it all started so well and sounded like a progressive store. If they'd had problems of such a nature that they felt they had to do something, why not make their policy known before hand and offer reading copies and certain items? It's not an ideal solution, but customers should never be made to feel uncomfortable, it's the kiss of death.

Way to make your customers feel welcome. I hope you wrote to the owner of the shop and let him know why you disagree with the policy and why it just cost him money. He, at least, is in a position to change it.

I disagree with this policy too, but maybe try to talk to the owner as well? You said your daughter and you had a fun time looking around, would you have the same experience shopping on amazon? It's fine if yes, but otherwise, why let go of that experience so easily? If the employee didn't notice your stack of books, then there's a chance she hasn't been in retail for long. If she was rude that's one thing, but sometimes new employees can interpret a store "policy" more harshly and exactly than they are supposed to do. I'm very sorry if this sounds preachy, but what's the point of practicing "local", if there no "community" and "social" to back it up?

Puffly,It doesn't sound preachy at all. The owner wasn't there, or I would've spoken to him directly. I know it seems like overreacting (and in all fairness, I probably am), but I genuinely felt sick to my stomach with guilt (that's my reaction to feeling guilty, panic and a stomach drop) when confronted, and that's a feeling that I don't ever want to have as a customer, anywhere, and one that I certainly don't want others to have, especially if they're on the fence about being comic readers. My stack of books, I think, should make no difference, because if it DOES then that still means that some kid trying desperately to figure out what best to spend his or her ten bucks on or some adult who heard that maybe these graphic novel things might be worth picking up will be made to feel like they're doing something wrong, and I don't think that's okay.I should point out that the employee was never less than professional, and was never discourteous. It wasn't her manner that took me about, but its content.

That's too bad. I've stopped going to shops based on interactions I've had with employees before, too. I'm not sure which shop you're referring to here, Chris, but I've yet to find a good ATL shop. I just can't find a shop that is well-stocked, has a strong kids' section, and good customer service. Usually, I can find 1 or 2 of those, but never all three. So, I rely on shopping online.

I remember once when I was in college, there was a shop that was on my walk to class that I would stop in every Wednesday to pick up the latest. They had magazine racks like you'd see at Barnes & Noble. They were pretty deep, so to see the titles on the bottom rack, you had to squat or kneel down. One day, I'm browsing the rack, squatting down to see what is down low, when I realize that one of the employees is yelling at someone in the store. I really didn't pay much mind. I mean, I wasn't doing anything wrong. So I just ignored it. Until I realized this person is yelling "Stand up!", and he's yelling it at me. I was mortified. I look up to see him standing at the end of the aisle. When I do, he looks at me and says, "No sitting!" I was stunned. I put everything back. I wish I could say that I stopped going there altogether, but I didn't really have too many options at that point. I tried to buy most of my books at the other shop in town after that, but it was inconvenient and sometimes I'd get there and what I wanted was already gone. That was about 16 years ago, and I still remember it to this day. They certainly made an impression. Too bad it wasn't a positive one.

I've never ever ever said no to a customer who wanted to look through a comic but I do prefer being asked, SOLELY because we bag everything in the racks and bins and do have a lot of casual foot traffic who aren't kind enough to put the stock back the way they've found it after they've finished looking through (or in some cases reading an entire) comic. It gives me an idea, during busier days when I'm not always able to spend one-on-one time with each individual customer, of what areas of the store I need to put my attention to first when tidying up.

But I've also never made an issue of it, and have had only a small, bare handful who haven't asked.

I've never gotten annoyed with it because I know from personal experience as both reader and retailer of a book completely surprising me...enough that I bought something on the spot that I had no interest in five seconds earlier.

It also helps us to cut down on returns considerably, since everyone's able to make sure they've read an issue before taking it out of the store.

Chris, as a former comics shop employee/manager type, I can tell you this same thing could have happened in any shop, even the BEST shop, and simply been a case of a bad decision by a clerk. I mean, I feel like I'm pretty polite now, pretty great at selling comics, but when I started at Heroes in 1996 I made a LOT of bonehead plays, and Shelton caught some of them, and some of them he didn't.

I guess my point is that you should support the parts of that store you love--it sounds like an AMAZING place to share your love of comics with your daughter--and the parts that you don't love, you should speak to a manager or the owner and let them know. Because I guarantee the owner would rather have your $75 in his or her register than a former customer being angry online.

Having said all that, it could also have been a dumb store policy. But in my experience that sort of thing is usually an employee getting a little police-y. I can't imagine not being able to look through a book in a bookshop, regardless of whether I planned to buy it or not. Browsers are part of the DNA of book shopping. So is good customer service. And good communication between customers and staff helps a lot too.

Hey Chris. We lived in the Atlanta area up until my oldest was 5 and I used to take her out on Saturdays and do the same thing. We'd hit multiple stores in one afternoon which is one of the things I miss about Atlanta. But, I can pretty easily guess which store you are talking about and customer service was never a strength there for me either. Sadly, the best shops in the area that I can remember are all closed now. And all the Borders too. It's a bummer for sure. Hang in there.

For every guy like you that actually buys a book they are reading, there are probably ten or twenty (or more) that have no qualms about reading as much as they can without buying anything. Unless a clerk recognizes you, they have no way of knowing if you are a moocher. Not trying to be contrarian, but comic book stores aren't libraries, and Borders went out of business.

Also, it's one thing to browse; I think it's safe to say that most bookstores are okay with people reading a bit. It's another entirely to squat down with your kid in your lap and read aloud to her. I just think that's a little inappropriate. You're in a daddy bubble where everything you're doing with your kid is a delightful and magical memory that's going to shape her future love for reading, but you seem to be forgetting you are in a public place with other people and someone else might want to stroll down that aisle or look in that rack.

It just seems to me you are caught up in this romantic fantasy of how comic book stores should be, but that has very little to do with the reality of running a business.

I think you cut off your nose to spite your face by rage-quitting. Well run, well maintained, thoroughly stocked, clean, family friendly comic book shops are VERY, VERY hard to find. So much so that I've lost faith in comic shops altogether and just buy everything digitally. You already mentioned being offended by the front-of-store display at that OTHER place so you can rule that out, too. Do you have a local comics shop to go to now? This experience was important bonding for you and your daughter (by your own admission) and I'm sure you don't want that to end... your daughter seemed less upset than you were so you seem to be canceling out a fun trip that you and your daughter could have together just over the sake of a petty store policy. Since your daughter wasn't offended and everyone was having a good time OTHER than your minor quibble with the "no reading" policy, why lose out on a good thing over something so trifling?

I agree that your reading in the store should be forgiven, especially since you are a good customer and spending a bunch of money there but think about it from the cashiers perspective: They are probably losing money on teenagers or scofflaws or whatever the case may be, coming in and using their stuff time and time again without ever paying for it so now management has to hold a hard line. Whoever owns or runs that place probably came down on all part-time staff members to ENFORCE this rule TO THE LETTER. Now, that girl you got so mad at is worried her job is on the line so she is going to adhere to that policy, dumb as it may seem, at ALL times and not let you slip by. I try to have that understanding of the other side when I'm shopping because I've worked in retail and customer service, too.

Ultimately, I would just wonder what was best for my daughter. If she gets something out of the experience, DO IT and don't quit because if she's happy, it's good. Period. I see this all the time: once people have kids, they get super touchy about every little thing and make these bold, "principled" stances about nothing at all and start boycotting stuff and writing angry letters and it comes from a good place but I think you might be getting worked up where you don't need to. If I were you, I'd feel like I just taught my daughter to pout and quit when I didn't like something... instead, why not make those purchases that would have given your daughter a ton of great comics but then also calmly discussed the matter with the employee at check-out? Why not have a measured, calm conversation with the manager, possibly at a more convenient time? What you might have ended up with would be a situation where they recognize you and know you by name and are willing to compromise their policy based on your good business and willingness to give halfway? Then, every time you'd walk through the door, they'd be glad to see you, knowing you'll read aloud to your daughter but they'd be OK with it because you're going to spend nearly a hundred bucks?

Just food for thought because good comic shops are hard to come by (impossible in many peoples' cases) and it seems to be something you and your daughter really treasure. That's irreplaceable - way too important to throw away on a petty policy grievance.

By the way - THE CREEP, LOBSTER JOHNSON and THE ROCKETEER are some of my favorites. You have good taste! Go read them!

Oh, in re-reading your thing, it seems like you have more comics shops to choose from. You're lucky! Most don't. Anyway, I still stand by my statement that it's better to resolve an issue than to quit. Again, just food for thought.

I worked for Borders for 7 years, in Atlanta actually and the manga kids and people sitting around reading books had nothing to do with Borders going out of business. In fact, nothing that existed in or happened in any of the physical stores had anything to do with it going out of business. And trust me, the manga kids bought plenty. In the Atlanta market the only genre the touched it in terms of speed of sell through and constant (soul crushing) need to re-stock was African American Fiction. But, the average store clerk does not care about numbers and sometimes they just get sick of customers. All customers. And say dumb things. As a manager I had to constantly remind employees (and myself) that the customers were good. We like them and their money. Even the manga kids. I think we called them "ass planters" on the old TCJ message board. I always asked them to get up and move to a chair or the cafe so that wheelchairs could get though but I never asked them to stop reading.

I think retailers of any stripe in this day and age are having trouble getting up to speed with just how threatened their businesses are by online activity and commerce. Your store (whether it's a bookstore, coffee shop, record store, what have you) is part business and part community hub/living room. It may not have been that way when you were growing up, it may not have even been that way two years ago, but now people have to have a REASON to leave the house and patronize Main Street whereas it used to be something you HAD to do. Now, if you don't recognize that you're selling the service of a community gathering point as well as your products, it's going to be tough to survive.

My local pet store is under heavy fire from Wag.com and other online retailers -- they answer by letting us bring our pets in, giving them treats, remembering their names, and having in-store adoption events, none of which have anything directly to do with making money. One of my local cafes used to have a restrictive laptop policy until they realized that having a cozy place to sit and relax was one of the services they were selling -- I think they just slightly raised their prices, took down the aggressive signs, and watched business increase.

If I were running a bookstore I would live for customer moments like the one you describe. I can't say I wouldn't have interrupted, but it would have been with something like, "Oooh, is Donald your favorite? Do you like Mickey, too?" The goodwill it generates might even lead to an extra purchase down the line, if not right then and there.

First off, thanks, everyone for such well thought out and reasoned comments, whether you agree with me or not.

I do want to stress two things that may not have come across in the post:

1. I have a very physical response to guilt. When asked if I was planning on buying the book (which my daughter wasn't touching, and which was in perfect shape when it returned to the shelf), I suddenly felt like I was doing something very wrong. I try to not do very wrong things if I can help it, because it basically makes my stomach drop out. So I might've been hit harder by this sort of thing than most folks are.

Knowing this were the case, I could certainly shop accordingly in the future. I pretty much never take more than a cursory glance at the artwork anyway. I could avoid situations like this entirely, except that….

2. It's the policy that worries/upsets me, not how it affects me. The notion that my being a regular customer or anything like that should, in my head, have nothing to do with it. It's the irregular customers that I worry about, and especially teens and kids.

And I know it probably seems silly to allow one thing in an otherwise perfect store to be such a big deal, but it's a thing that is of huge importance to me.

I'll talk to the owner the next time I have the opportunity. It may entirely be a misunderstanding, an overzealous (though, again, very well-mannered and professional) employee, in which case I'm the nitwit that my wife generally accuses me of being whenever I write something off forever as a result of one bad experience (and yes, that happens often enough for her to have a regular response; they're just rarely comic-related, and so I have no need/inclination to talk about 'em). If it IS policy, I'll explain my reasons for feeling that I can't support a shop that has a policy like that.

Thanks, and sorry to post something negative on the internet. I try to never do that, if I can help it.

I was most taken by your comment about reading entire books at Borders and not paying for them. Can you explain how this isn't a form of stealing?

The argument I've heard from others who do this is basically since the store suffers no physical loss there is no monetary loss. That implies to me then that it's okay to sneak into a movie, concert or sporting event without paying. Would you do that?

If DVD cases weren't sealed, would you open one at Best Buy and watch the entire movie on one of their display TVs (assuming you were confident you wouldn't be stopped, of course)?

If you wouldn't sneak into an event or watch an entire movie at Best Buy can you explain why reading a book at a bookstore is different?

I'm pretty sure that this was my store, Dr. No's in Marietta, GA. Since Chris said "she" and he said that he was visiting on a Saturday, that would have definitely been a new employee--we have two women who work for us, but the more experienced female staffer works on Sunday. No, that isn't our store policy: we DO instruct staffers to encourage customers to sit at the table near the front or in the other side of the store when looking through a book, since the store can get crowded in the front area (as you know, we continue to add to our young readers section in the front area of the store, and we sometimes have numerous children and parents looking at the same time). The new staffer has been with us about four weeks now, and is still learning the ropes. The reason you've never had this experience before in our store is that it's NOT our policy.

You and I have spoken on many occasions; you've been kind enough to sign copies of your books for customers (we always keep the Crogan books in stock); and as you know, we were more than willing to host a student gathering at the store and would be glad to do so again whenever you'd like to schedule it.

Hope you'll try us again and cut a little slack for an overly cautious college student staffer who went beyond store policy. I'd like to think that the many positive experiences outweigh this one.

A corrective email, restating our policy and clarifying things, has now been relayed to all staff members.

We will be addressing this in person with staff meetings as well.

Some of our most memorable customers are parents with young children, and we love the opportunity to help make them lifelong comics readers. We have many families who shop at Dr. No's for the entire family, and we certainly appreciate it.

After a couple of days of reflection (and other peoples' comments) I felt really bad about not having come by to talk to you. As I mentioned elsewhere, the store is such a very, very good one, and until then I've never had anything but the very best experiences there. I'm very sorry to have vented in a public arena. I did so because it's something that (while I was surprised to find in yours) I see all the time in other stores, and wanted to draw attention to it as something that I think is dangerous for direct market shops to continue doing.

You've worked hard to court my business and that of your other customers. You and your staff have always been incredible in every possible way - I constantly talk up the store to locals, and bring visiting friends by. That I would be willing to refuse such a place my business (and lose the enjoyment of going there myself) because of a disagreement of policy without investigating whether or not it IS policy showcases a real deficiency of my character that I will really try to overcome in the future. Though this is the first time I've ever posted about it, this is not the first time I've stopped frequenting a business because of one negative experience. I will not do so again. I apologize for not giving your establishment the benefit of the doubt and talking to you sooner.

Thanks for being so candid, Cliff, and for not saying that I'm a childish tool, though I certainly won't blame you for thinking it. I can promise that this has taught me something about jumping off the handle.

Probably been 10 years since I've been to Dr. No's. May have to make a trek over there again at some point. Is Titan still open over in Smyrna? Used to go there pretty regularly. I know a few of them closed. Teacup Comics off of Roswell is pretty good. Lots of new issues (found Punk Rock Jesus #2 a couple weeks after it had sold out everywhere else). Very nice folks.

It's nice that this has been resolved, but I still think that retailers can learn a valuable lesson from Chris' story. First and most important store policy should be "Make the customer feel welcome". If you don't, they're not coming back.

If you were trying on a shirt at a clothing store, and one of the employees had walked up and asked if you were going to buy it, would that be acceptable? No. Would you go back to that store? I wouldn't!

Kent, we are still in the same location where we've been for 35 years (although we're actually twice as large--we took the space next to us about ten years ago and knocked down a wall to make room for more comics). And we too have copies of Punk Rock Jesus #2 (as well as every other issue) in stock! We have the largest selection of single issues and collected editions in the Southeast; if you ever want to come by and check it out, we're open from 11am to 8pm Monday-Saturday, noon to 6pm on Sunday, and 1pm to 6pm on major holidays (Christmas Day, etc.)--but we ARE open every day of the year!

Hey! Nice post and nice debate, all the comments are very interesting (i discovered this post through the link posted in Bleeding Cool). Just some thoughts:

- First of it all, i'm glad this discussion hit the internet. I know that maybe it could all have been friendly settled with a personal ''customer-store manager'' conversation, but with posting it on the internet it opens a debate that -aside from the particular case- represents a reality that includes all comic shops, all customers, etc.

- I know that this post could just sound as a ''storm in a glass of water'' rant for some people, but i completely understand you. You know, we are humans, and we are complex beings, and there use to be a lot more that we can understand or explain in our daily life experiencies. Some experiencies like the one you had in that comic shop with that employee, can be rememebered for life (as some other person explained) as a bad moment. And yeah, the absurdity, the akwardness and the roghness of the moment, i know we can feel it deeply in our stomach, make us field complete weird, guilty, discomforted. There is no ''small thing'' in life. No my friends. A simply word, a simply act, can have an importance that again, maybe ''cientifically'' or 'rationally'' shouldn't be a big deal, but it is. because we are humans.

- That said, i am glad things finally came to a great end. You know, i understand all the ''parts'' in this equation. Every person is a universe on his own. You have these employees, some of the are frustrated, they really dont like the word they are doing, some of them are new and know not how to treat customers, some of them could have had bad experiencies with people who always read comics at the stores but never buy anything, (and innocents mostly pay the price of the guilty ones) i don't know, so many intrincate variables that plays its role in every little second of life...

-But i really underdstand you, you know. Because we are living in times of AMAZON and DCBS, and we can have the comics usually with 40% or 50% discounnts in pre-order and be delivered to the door of our homes in NEAR MINT condition. So in this new panorama, comic stores need to re-imagine the service they are giving, as someone pointed, the comic shop now just don't offer just comics but a social experience of getting out of your house and visit the place, etc.

-It's something that must be resolved creatively. For example, i as a customer am very picky with teh condition of the comics that i buy. So just imagine, i go to that store and ask for a hardcover, and they only have a single copy of that book, and i see that this copy has been manipulated by different personas (you know, the digital prints and all that staff), well, maybe i woudn't buy that book, i would ask for a new 10/10 copy touched by nobody. Because not all the people are very carefully when checking a comic, maybe you and i are, but others just manipulate teh comic with i dont know, their hands fresh from eating a hamburguer or something...

- Maybe comic shops should have some copies specifically for customer to check. I dont know if this would be conveniently for the stores (they must buy an extra copy, that maybe at the end no one will want to buy, or they must sell them with a lower price because they have been manipulated), But man, maybe that's a price thay have to pay becasue you know, there's DCBS and AMAZON...